Panasonic Jungle: Can It Work?

Maybe.

MMORPGs make addicts, and addicts need to get their fix absolutely any way possible. That's why the Panasonic Jungle seems like such a good idea. A dedicated, portable MMORPG gaming hub allows users to take a hit whenever and wherever they need it. We covered the Jungle earlier but there are still too many things unanswered to about this gizmo.

The leaked shot proves it is real, but other than that user testimony is all we've got to go on. The Jungle looks rugged and rubberised, and the screen is apparently "terrific". It has to be a touchscreen, otherwise control is going to be agony at that size. The keyboard looks cramped and uncomfortable. If touchscreen input will be supported well, there's another area the Jungle will need to do game-specific modding.

It has HDMI-out and WiFi at the very least. 3G or (possibly) 4G is an absolute necessity here. Without 'always on' functionality, this thing is nothing but a terrible laptop. That means a carrier subsidy, which will hopefully drop the price down to $200. If the Jungle has any sort of horsepower under the hood, it won't be cheap unsubsidized.

This thing will live or die by its content. World of Warcraft is a given (how could you NOT include WoW?) but how they will get the game to work is not. Deals with developers will be very necessary. That brings the possibility of Jungle-specialized versions of popular MMORPGs, trimmed down visually to be manageable.

Panasonic is the company responsible for 3DO, the company who gave us all Heroes of Might and Magic III, which some of you will remember as the single finest turn-based game ever launched. 3DO crashed and burned, so it's hard to not want to see Panasonic finally succeed in gaming. Here's to the Jungle!

The Author

Robert EvansThe excitement about new smartphones, tablets and anything mobile drive
Robert to unearth the latest rumors and developments in this fast
moving space. He adopted 4G as soon as it become available and knows
where the mobile market is going.
Robert can be contacted directly at robert@i4u.com.